Wellington hills test champion unicyclists
07 Jan 2010
New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington with its hilly terrain and challenging winds has given the world’s top unicyclists some extra excitement during their 10-day championships.
It’s the first time the biennial Unicon world championships have been held in the southern hemisphere, and only the 15th time in the world.
The spectacle has created major public interest and attracted 640 unicyclists from 23 countries. Many young competitors have been supported by family and friends, boosting international visitor numbers to Wellington over the holiday period.
Mountain unicycling
As well as creating major public interest in the city, the Unicon event has apparently been a hit with competitors who’ve enjoyed the location and been able to showcase one of the latest crazes in the sport - ‘muni’ or mountain-unicycling.
The championships have tested the competitors’ skills in a number of areas and as well as a street section, cross country, marathon road race and artistic freestyle competitions, the unicyclists have also played basketball and hockey.
Many of the events have taken place on Wellington’s picturesque waterfront and have brought large crowds over the Christmas holidays. The 10-day competition opened with the 640 unicyclists parading along the waterfront on 28 December.
Coordinator Arthur Klap said the event had turned out to be a hit.
"It's been great, it's an unusual event - it way over-delivers. We're getting a lot of people in to watch," said Klap.
He estimated that the event would bring up to NZ$3 million to the capital.
Overseas visitors
Sophia Plininger, 12, travelled with eight people from her unicycling club in Bavaria for the competition, and will stay in New Zealand for three weeks.
She has been unicycling for four years, and said travelling so far for her second international competition was a great way to meet people.
Sophia and her clubmates took time out from events to sign the safety helmets of their new-found friends from the Japanese team.
Germany was well represented at the games. The country has the most registered competitors, with more than 100.
Martin Schmid, 35, said he travelled with about 30 people from Switzerland, and had 20 years of unicycling experience under his belt.
"It's difficult to begin with, and then it's just like cycling," Schmid said.
Amazing powhiri
The event opened with a powhiri, which Team America member John Foss described as "an amazing experience".
He spoke on behalf of the competitors, saying Wellington would see plenty of creativity, skill, flair and good sportsmanship throughout the competition.
Among the New Zealand entrants was Sugra "The Juggler" Morley.
The Christchurch resident said he learnt to unicycle 22 years ago because the world was lopsided. "I have a role in helping the world come into balance."
The championships wrapped up on 6 January, with a marathon road race.
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